Ian Johns Wins 2006 WSOP $3,000 Limit Hold'em Bracelet

$3,000 Limit Hold'em Final Table
It was an early start for the nine players participating in the $3,000 limit hold'em final table. A noon PDT kick off time, as opposed to the usual 2:00 p.m. mark, became a necessity with four other events scheduled for play in the Amazon Room.

So, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, the nine players coming into the final table were:
1. Ian Johns - $207,000 (Seat 5)
2. Jerrod Ankenman - $161,000 (Seat 8)
3. Brendan Taylor - $155,000 (Seat 6)
4. Javier Torresola - $132,000 (Seat 7)
5. Mark Newhouse - $106,000 (Seat 2)
6. Ben Robinson - $103,000 (Seat 4)
7. Theo Tran - $74,000 (Seat 9)
8. Tad Jurgens - $61,000 (Seat 1)
9. Fi Tran - $31,000 (Seat 3)

Play began with $3,000 - $5,000 blinds and $5,000 - $10,000 limits. Fi Tran entered the day as the short stack and he survived for three hours before his A 3 collided with Brendan Taylor's A K. All in, Tran lost the hand and took home $18,823 for finishing in tenth place.

Online poker star Ian "IanJ" Johns provided the next elimination. He put Ben Robinson all in on a A94 flop. Robinson's A J failed to improve against Johns' A Q and the eighth place finish paid Robinson $28,235.

After his pocket nines ran into Jarrod Ankenman's pocket jacks, Taylor lost another hand to Javier Torresola, and his chip stack dropped to $15,000. Left with few options, Taylor moved all in on a KQ10 flop. His K 7 gave him top pair, but he 9 turn completed a king high straight for Tad Jurgens and Taylor exited the tournament in seventh place ($37,646).

Jurgens built his stack to over $115,000 in chips, but his run came to an abrupt end. He moved all in with pocket kings, only to have Torresola call him with pocket aces. Jurgens netted $47,058 for his sixth place finish.

Mark Newhouse soon followed as the fifth place finisher ($56,470).

Theo Tran entertained the railbirds by dodging elimination on a number of all in hands, including one in which he hit a king on the river to crack Ankenman's pocket jacks. Tran worked to stay alive all day, but a lost pot to Johns put him barely ahead of the blinds. After moving all in preflop, Tran mucked his hand when Ankenman and Johns chopped with two pair and ace kickers. Tran, the fourth place finisher, walked away $65,881 dollars richer.

A Johns' broadway straight crippled Torresola, and he moved all in only minutes later. With the board coming 88642, Ankenman showed the A 6. Torresola mucked his hand and exited the tournament in third place ($75,293).

During heads up play Ankenman, a member of the rec.gambling.poker news group, received some support from fellow RGP contributor, Greg Raymer. The 2004 WSOP champion provided some play-by-play for the fans in attendance, but Johns soon garnered all the attention. After being down to his last $100,000 in chips, the young poker player doubled up twice, courtesy of an Ankenman missed flush draw and a queen high straight.

The rush proved to be enough to put Johns in the lead and he never looked back. A turned straight crippled Ankenman. On the next hand, with the board coming A9532, Ankenman made an all in call on a Johns raise. When Johns showed the A 3, Ankenman mucked his hand and the $3,000 limit event came to an end.

Ankenman made $150,586 for his runner-up finish.

Johns, along with winning a $291,755 cash prize, took home his first WSOP gold bracelet.

Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for live updates, chip counts, photos, videos and for new episodes of "The Circuit" and "The Series."

For more information on bracelet winners and other WSOP news stories please visit http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/wsop/2006s

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